Foreword:

• This post is heavily inspired by the book "The Wisdom of Insecurity" by Allan Watts

• All quotes are taken from this book.

• Allan watts is a British writer. His Ideas are related to Taoism and Buddhism. About living in the "now". An idea simple in concept, however grander in scope.

• I attempt to make it more accessible. Spiritually can get a little hazy & too much sometimes. I only took what was useful to me.

We Live in a age of unusual insecurity.

The long-established traditions of antiquity seemed broken down. Traditions of family and social life, of government, of the economic order, and of religious belief. As the years go by, there seems to be fewer and fewer rocks to which we hold. Fewer things which we can regard as dogma, absolutely true and fixed for all time. Security ceases to exist. Perhaps it never had existed.

Constantly striving towards progress. We're addicted to evolution. Adding endless tension to our lives.

On Belief & Faith

The modern man always wants to believe. So he constantly attempts to delude himself. "belief in believing"

Belief is what the "believer" wishes the truth to be.

"A myth can only "work" when it is thought to be truth." (pg.19)

Faith has no preconceptions. It is a plunge into the unknown. Acceptance in the limitations of our beliefs. Faith is in divination.

On Fulfillment & Pleasure

"Consequently, our age is one of frustration, anxiety, agitation, and addiction to "dope"... Thus "dope" we call our high standard of living, a violent and complex stimulation of the senses, which makes them progressively less sensitive and thus in need of yet more violent stimulation." (pg.21)

"If we are to have intense pleasures, we must also be liable to intense pains." (pg.30)

Man is much concerned to have enjoyable moments and expectations. With these assured, he can put up with an extremely miserable present.

"Paradox as it may seem, we likewise find life meaningful only when we have seen it is without purpose..." (pg.27)

The reason we want our life to mean something is for our ability to perceive time. We would have apathy otherwise.

"But because life is short, human beings must cram... not to miss the last fragment of starting pleasure" (pg.62)

We rush to completion, instead of enjoying the moment.

"The present cannot be lived happily unless the past believed has been "cleared up" and the future is bright with promise" (pg.31)

What is the point of working towards the future if one cannot enjoy the present? If one's awareness of the past & future makes one less aware of the present moment, are they living in the real world? They will be in the same predicament when tomorrow becomes "now".

"they fail to live because they are always preparing to live." (pg.35-36)

You cannot plan to be happy. Only be.

Stop thinking about doing something and actually do it. Our ease of life is now a disadvantage.

"...where the advantages of being conscious are outweighed by its disadvantages, where extreme sensitivity makes us unadaptable" (pg.37)

On Minding Morality

" A mind that is single and sincere is not interested in being good. In conducting relation with other people so as to live up to a rule. Nor, on the other hand, is it interested in being free, in acting perversely just to prove it's independence. Its interest is not in itself, ...only that of which it is aware." pg.132

Morality is judgement. To judge, one must separate from the experience. Thus not experiencing.

"He has only come to terms with nature to the extent that he has befriended his own, human nature." (pg.110)

When you question morality. Look at mother nature. What are her rules of justice?

On Life & Death

Everything is flux.

The purpose of living is to live. Not think, label, or identify.

"Death is the unknown in which all of us lived before birth" (pg.117)

Death attempts to give life a lesson,

"...The past must be abandoned, that unknown cannot be avoided." (pg.117)

Not even those words can really define the relationship

On Sex & Consumption

More, more, more. That is this ages mantra.

"We have taught to neglect, despise and violate our bodies, and to put all faith in our brains." pg.57

LIFT.

"But because life is short, human beings must cram... not to miss the last fragment of starting pleasure" (pg.62)

We purchase things and gizmos for "front". We desire products with appearance rather than content.

Sex is made a taboo. So the expectation of it is raised. Our brain desires sex more than the body. When we believe a thing is scarce we attach greater significance to it.

"His eyes flit without rest from television screen, to newspaper, to magazine, keeping him in a sort of orgasm-with-out-release through a series of teasing glimpses of shiny automobiles,shiny female bodies, and other..." (pg.61)

We are engulfed in consumerism. My personal advice is we should participate in creation, not consumption. Distraction is your greatest enemy and it's everywhere.

Edit Add-on: ↓

On Confidence and Completeness

"In such feeling, seeing, and thinking life requires no future to complete itself nor explanation to justify itself. In the moment it is finished." (pg.152)

Once you realize you are "you".

Not looking to find things to fill a void, that doesn't exist. To know that the word "I", the thing you represent, the thing you symbolize in your own mind, doesn't matter.

Don't make life so complicated. Accept, Acceptance. "you" are enough.

Plain-speak: Accept Yourself

....We have but to open the eyes of the mind wide enough, and "the truth will out"